A Game of Sevens
by boombamfirepower
Summary: "You are going to have to tell them eventually, Penelope." Caroline watched her friend pace across the wet pavement. "This will get too big to contain." "I lied to them." Garcia stopped and removed her glasses. "They will hate me." "I'm sorry, Pen." Caroline sighed. "But you have no choice." Sequel to Linchpin. Story better than summary.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: What's up guys? I asked at the end of Linchpin if you guys wanted a sequel and several people said yes. And of course, I got this idea while trying to study for my final exams. I had to write it down and get it out of my head.

If you haven't read Linchpin yet, I highly recommend you read that first. This story is based off some of the events from that story. You are not obligated to, of course, but you may be a bit confused.

Speaking of, a couple things. This story is rated T for cursing. There may be some fruity stuff in here, but I don't do lemons. Also, Caroline will return in this story in a bigger way than she did for the first story. I hate it when OCs take over a story, but I feel it's necessary in this case. This story is set a year after the events of Linchpin, and is still in the AU of Linchpin. That means the dream team is still together. Anything in italics is a flashback.

As still somewhat of a rookie writer, I appreciate any and all criticism. Enjoy!

OoOoOoO

 _"Penelope!"_

 _At first, the technical analyst wasn't quite sure that she heard it. There was ringing in her ears, and when she tried to crack open her eyes, the swirling of dust made them water._

 _"Penelope!"_

 _That time, she did hear it. She opened her mouth to respond, and choked, coughing loudly. Something was pressed against her abdomen, making it hard to breathe. Her legs were trapped, unmoving. Pain radiated from her left leg as she tried to get out from under whatever it was that had her pinned to the ground. Shouting, this time in another language, made her heart race with panic._

 _"Are you okay?" A blur appeared next to her, and she recognized the voice. Caroline had managed to find her among the chaos. "Come on. We need to get out of here." She somehow managed to shove whatever it was enough to allow Penelope to wriggle out. Now that she was free, she could feel the full force of the pain in her left leg. "Can you walk?"_

 _"No. No, it hurts."_

 _"I can help you but you're gonna have to deal for now. We need to focus on getting out of here." Penelope was able to bite back the pain enough to get herself up. Caroline was able to get on her bad side and offer her help. Now that the dust was beginning to settle a bit, the rough blurs were slightly more defined. She had lost her glasses, and she was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to find them now._

 _"You're hurt." She commented, noticing the rough red splotch on her friend's side._

 _"I'll be fine. Do you know a way for us to get out of here?" The distant shouting was drawing nearer. They ducked around the back of the tent and remained deathly silent as several people ran past the main entrance._

 _"What about the Humvees?" She whispered._

 _"Can you stand? I need to go around and look." Penelope nodded and Caroline left her leaning against the side of the tent, facing the high walls and barbed wire of their camp. Caroline crept silently towards the end of the tent and took a quick peek before walking back over. "We aren't going to be able to get out of here by truck."_

 _"Shit." Penelope's eyes went wide as she began realizing the major mistake that she had made._

 _"I know."_

 _"No, that's not why-look, we left the system open. If they get to any of that data-"_

 _"Alright, let's think this through." Caroline winced and returned her hand to her side, feeling dizzy. "How long will it take you to download everything?"_

 _"Five minutes. I just need cover."_

 _"Come on." As if fate had intervened, they were only two large tents away from where they needed to be. Getting there would be relatively easy, but having time to download the data would be tricky. They were able to clear the area between the first two tents with np problem. It was when they tried to clear the second gap that things went wrong._

 _They were able to duck into the command tent, but they were met with two men in make shift uniforms, who shouted at them in Arabic and pointed the AK-47s slung around their necks. The two girls, unarmed and injured, slowly lifted their hands as a sign of surrender._

 _When the first man to step forward got close enough, Caroline grabbed his own gun and shoved it upward. Hard. There was an audible crack as his nose broke. She took the side arm from his waist and had shot the second man before he could even react. Without hesitation, she put a bullet between the eyes of the first man who had fallen to his knees, ensuring he was dead._

 _She took the AK 47, as well as the handgun. Once she made sure that the tent was otherwise clear, she came back and helped Penelope to the computer system. "Hurry, Pen. I'm sure they heard that." Penelope removed the hard drive that was practically always around her neck, and began typing furiously into the computer._

 _Five minutes seemed to lag on and on. With each heartbeat that thudded in her ears, she seemed to grow dizzier and her grip on her gun grew weaker. Thankfully, there was only a single entrance-a security measure. With every man that entered the tent and every shot she fired, she could feel Garcia jump. The techie pressed on, however. And soon, she had finally downloaded the files she needed._

 _"I installed a virus. When they try to read the file it will delete everything. I got what I needed." She returned the drive back around her neck. "We can go."_

 _"We have another problem." Caroline's voice was a hoarse whisper. She gestured with the gun the several pairs of boots that were running to the exit, waiting to ambush them as they tried to get away._

 _"You have your pocket knife?"_

 _"No." Caroline shook her head. "I lost it in the blast. You?"_

 _"What about them?" Penelope gestured to the bodies of the six men who had tried to enter, and who still lay dead near the entrance. Caroline crept silently over to them, and began rifling through their sweat stained garments for anything that may help. "Penelope, you are a goddess." Caroline revealed a knife, albeit dull, from his belt. Penelope grinned as Caroline stood and neared the side of the tent facing the back wall of the camp. In the back corner, she began slicing away at the sides of the tent near the seams, where the fabric was weakest._

 _"We'll need to- We'll need to take care of the ones at the front of the tent."_

 _"Grab his gun." Caroline gestured to the second man, who's gun still remained at his side. "Now." Her whisper was harsh, but she was afraid that they were losing time. Once she had cut the seams, the fabric gave way just enough for the two to slip out the side, but it was dangerous for either of them to be unarmed. Garcia hobbled over and removed the gun from the body. Now that she had adrenaline going, she was able to push aside the pain in her leg and hobble back over to her friend._

 _"Ready?" She whispered._

 _"Let's go."_

BANG!

Penelope shot up from her bed, chest heaving and sweat trickling down her forehead, mixing with the stray tears that snaked down her cheeks. She gripped the side of the bed so tight that her knuckles went white, holding onto it like it was a lifeboat keeping her from drowning.

"Hey hey hey." A hand on her shoulder caused her to jerk violently, forgetting for a moment that she was _not_ as alone as she had originally thought. "Baby, it's me."

She relaxed her grip on the side of the bed, focusing on the softness of his voice, and letting that calm her thudding heart. Suddenly feeling incredibly embarrassed at the fact that a slamming door had scared her half to death, she pressed her palms into her eyes, fighting back tears.

Derek sat up and propped himself on one arm, watching her with concern. "Are you okay?"

"No." She replied, finally feeling calmer, although not 100%. The tears subsided. "I need some water." She stood from their bed and made her way into the dark kitchen.

She felt, rather than saw Derek come in behind her, throwing a sweatshirt over his head as he did so. She grabbed a cup, still not willing to speak, and filled it with filtered water from the fridge. She didn't even drink it, she just stared blankly at it, fighting the images from her sleep that lingered behind her eyes. Derek padded over quietly, and she felt her robe being draped over her shoulders.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He risked asking, even though he knew what she'd say.

"No, Derek." She shook her head and finally she took a deep swig of her water.

"Do you want to talk to someone else about it?" he probed. He watched her as she turned to him, a deep frown on her face. "I just want to know how I can help." He tucked a blonde flyaway behind her ear.

"There's nothing you can do." She smiled a bit at the sweet gesture. She placed a reassuring hand on his chest. "Thanks love." She kissed him softly (something he didn't expect) and disappeared back into the bedroom, leaving him there feeling helpless.

OoOoOoO

The next night

The rain pounded against the glass panes relentlessly, seemingly trying to shatter the glass that separated warmth from the bitter cold. Inside, the mutterings of the television could be heard underlying the clatter of pots and pans in the kitchen.

Aaron Hotchner frowned at the back of the Hamburger Helper box, and stirred the pot absentmindedly as he did so.

"Hey Jack, dinner will be ready in five. Go wash your hands." He grabbed two bowls as the young boy went running into the bathroom. By the time Jack had finished, Hotch had the bowls filled with cheeseburger macaroni, and was pulling out forks and napkins.

Hotch put the bowls on the table and pulled Jack's chair out for him to climb into. Once seated, Hotch moved around the table and sat in his own seat. Jack smiled happily and did a little dance, taking a bite of his macaroni. Aaron smiled.

"How was your day at school, bud?" He took a bite, and was surprised how good it actually was. He could see why Hamburger Helper was one of Jack's favorite foods.

"I have a girlfriend, daddy!"

Aaron froze, spoon halfway to his mouth. "You what?"

"Harper Lee is my girlfriend now!"

"She is?"

"Yeah." Jack shrugged and took another bite. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"I-" The blaring sound of a telephone echoed around the kitchen and he groaned internally. He stood from the table and grabbed his cell off the counter. "Hello?" He listened for a moment with a frown on his face. "Thank you."

"Do you have to go to work, daddy?" Jack lips curled into a pout, and he swirled his spoon around in his bowl, suddenly not hungry. Aaron glanced to the clock-6:45. JJ said it wasn't urgent. The team could wait.

"Not yet, buddy. I'll make sure you get to bed, okay?" Hotch returned to his seat. Jack still looked disappointed as he took a bite of his pasta, but he said nothing.

OoOoOoO

A/N: I completely rewrote the entire structure of this story, which why it has taken me so long to post a sequel. Hope you enjoy! I don't own anything. Boomie out.


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm sorry." JJ rushed into the conference room, arms laden with manila files. "I wish I wasn't calling you in so late."

"Not like any of us were doing anything important." Reid looked up from his book, and met the grumpy gaze of Rossi, whose tie hung undone around his neck.

"Speak for yourself." Rossi replied with a glare.

"What, did we mess up a date night, Rossi?" Morgan came in to Reid's defense, taking a sip from his mug.

"Oh you didn't hear?" Emily entered with her own mug. "He likes to smoke cigars in his dress up clothes. Takes him back to the 70s when he was cool."

"Oooh harsh." Penelope chuckled lightly as she came into the room behind her, laptop tucked under her arm. She cast a mischievous look at the resident millionaire. "Is that true, Rossi?"

"Laugh it up." There were several chuckles around the room. "Payback's a bitch."

"Sorry I'm late." Hotch was the last to enter. Their laughter subsided, the seriousness of Hotch's countenance unofficially calling them to attention.

"We have a case in Richmond. Last night, Julia Knowles and her ten year old son were killed in a hotel just outside of the city." JJ put the images of the victims up on the television and Penelope's brow furrowed. Something about the photo of Julia looked incredibly familiar. She couldn't place her finger on it. "Dustin, the boy, was found shot-to-death execution style. He was killed first. But Julia….she was tortured." JJ put the nasty images up on the screen, and Penelope looked away in disgust.

"Extensively." Reid frowned at his file. "Ligature marks on wrists and ankles. All of her fingers were broken. No evidence of sexual assault."

"They were killed in a hotel?" Emily looked to the others. "That's odd."

"Here's the thing, they were from the DC area." Hotch spoke up. He leaned forward and folded his hands on the table. "JJ, Rossi and I are heading down to Richmond. The rest of you will remain here. Garcia-"

"Yes sir?" She jerked her blonde head up, pen at the ready.

"Find out everything you can about this family. I want to know why they were in Richmond."

"This is odd." Morgan spoke up next to her. "The father has vanished?"

"No one has been able to find Jacob Knowles-he's gone completely off the radar. A nationwide APB was put out on him and his truck. He won't be able to make it through any airport without someone seeing him." JJ replied.

"I don't think he did this." Emily frowned at the ME report. "Usually when husbands kill their wives, they don't usually torture them. And a lot of times they end in the husband committing suicide."

"I don't think he did this either, but he did run. We need to find out where he ran to and why. We'll cover the rest on the drive down. Wheels up in thirty." Hotch signaled and Rossi and JJ stood as well. Rossi grabbed his untied-tie from his neck and bunched it up, tossing it at Reid playfully. Garcia opened her computer up and began running her program, bringing the case file up on her screen.

OoOoOoO

Penelope was very good at what she did.

That being said, there were certain miracles she could not perform. Finding information on Julia Knowles was one of those things.

She groaned loudly and tapped her pen impatiently on the table.

"Everything okay?" Emily turned from the evidence board, looking at her blonde friend with curiosity.

"Aside from the fact that I can find literally nothing on Julia Knowles, I'm golden."

"Wait, you can't find anything?" Emily came around the back of Penelope's chair and looked over her shoulder at her computer screen. "I thought you were the tech queen." She felt bad about teasing her blonde friend when she saw the downtrodden look on her friend's face.

"Nope. None of her records go back more than four years. Same thing with Dustin. It's like they didn't exist before 2010." Garcia sat back, looking dejected. Emily pulled out her cell and dialed Hotch.

"Hey, Hotch, we have an issue." Emily set the phone on the table and put it on speaker.

"Your girl, Julia, doesn't exist further back than 2010. Neither does Dustin. It's like they just appeared out of nowhere. Heck, I can't even get a picture of Jacob Knowles to come up on my screen." Penelope told him before he could ask.

"Witness protection?" She shook her head at his reply, and then realized he couldn't see her.

"Nope. I'd get a notification from the D.O.J." Penelope tried to keep the frustration out of her voice, but she couldn't help it. "It's like every bit of their lives before four years ago was wiped from existence."

She looked up as Morgan and Reid entered the room, looking….miffed. "Is that Hotch?" Morgan gestured to the phone.

"Yeah. What did you find at the house?"

"Nothing. The place was entirely clean." Reid stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"And by clean, he means barren." Morgan picked up the phone. "No furniture, nothing. The place was spotless. It looked like no one had ever lived there."

Garcia tried again and again to find something, anything that would help with this case, but there was nothing there. She ended up just looking hopelessly at her screen, a really bad feeling rising in her gut.

"Garcia." Hotch's voice was stern. She jerked up from her computer, embarrassed at having been caught unaware.

"Yes sir?"

"Keep digging and see what you can find in the last four years that may give you clues as to why they vanished. We are getting ready to pull into the parking lot. We'll call you guys after we get through the crime scene." He clicked off.

Morgan's next words resonated among them for different reasons. "What the hell is going on?"

OoOoOoO

Even though they had cleared the bodies away, the stench of death still lingered in the air.

Fortunately for JJ, Rossi, and Hotch, it was a smell they were used to. They exited the suburban and passed the throng of cop and crime scene cars to meet the detective at the door of the room.

"Detective Mollenaur? I'm Jennifer Jareau, we spoke on the phone. These are SSAs Hotch and Rossi." JJ gestured to the two men, who shook hands with the detective. Mollenaur shook his head and placed his hands on his belt.

"I'm glad you guys are here. There's something about this one that's…weird." He gestured for them to enter the room and then followed them in. Upon entering, they were met with two major attention grabbers. The first was the desk chair that had been pulled out from the desk. Not only was it covered in blood, but there was duct tape on either arm.

What was on the wall above the bed, however, was more disturbing.

 _Ace._ It was written in blood, and had dried to a dark burgundy color.

"Well that's interesting." Rossi put his hands in his pockets.

"They were found by the front desk attendant. Seems they only payed for two nights and when they overstayed, he came up here. Found the door open." He stepped around the chair and over to the bed. "The boy was found face down on the bed."

"The ME said he was killed first?" Hotch peered at the duvet. Aside from a small pool of blood near the end of the bed, the covers were clean.

"Yeah. He was killed before his mother." Replied the detective.

"The unsub killed him to break her." Rossi nodded.

"Break her?" Mollenaur frowned.

"Yes. What I don't know is if the torture was sadistic, or mission based." Hotch stood and came over to Rossi. "Let's go talk to the ME and see what he found. That will tell us more. Detective, can you send the crime scene photos to our analyst at Quantico?" Said detective nodded. "Thanks. We are going to head to the morgue. JJ, stay here. Look at the crime scene over again and see if there is anything we missed. Once we get done at the morgue, we'll pick you up and head back to Quantico."

"Will do."

OoOoOoO

"What can you tell us?" The medical examiner was a stout little man, who squinted at his report through wire-rimmed frames. They stood next to the covered body of Julie on the cold, steel table.

He looked up at Hotch and sighed, looking exhausted and sad. "I can tell you she did suffer. All of her fingers were broken. In addition," he pulled the sheet back from her face, exposing her shoulders and collarbone. "there were deep lacerations, starting at her chest and crisscrossing their way down her body. She's also missing three fingers, her left knee was shattered with a blunt object, like a baseball bat. There's also evidence of repeated strangulation."

"What was the cause of death?" Hotch looked away from the cuts. Despite the number of bodies he had seen over the years, he still felt nauseous looking at the paleness of their faces.

"Gunshot to the back of the head, same as the boy." He closed the file he had been reading and covered Julia's face once more.

"That confirms my theory." Hotch turned to Rossi. "This torture was need based. We have to assume he was after some kind of information."

"Makes sense. He would have tortured the boy, too. We need to see if Penelope has been able to find anything on him." Rossi replied. The two thanked the ME and headed out to the SUV.

OoOoOoO

A/N: Sorry for the delay guys. I'll try to post every few days if i'm not working. I don't own anything. Boomie out :)


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Just a little reminder-flashbacks are in italics. For this story, the year is 2014. Penelope came back in 2008, and she left in 2013.

OoOoOoO

I've looked into everything, guys." Garcia shook her head, feeling defeated. Emily stood behind her, and rested a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "Medical records, social media, school. Nothing screams out at me."

"Hotch, these guys were well liked. Dustin was playing sports, Julia had a steady job. No signs of abuse, neglect, or anything that would tip us off to an unhappy family." Morgan finished.

The team had regrouped back at Quantico, and they sat around the conference room table sharing information. The drive back from Richmond had only been a little over an hour. Hotch had insisted they wait until they returned to headquarters to go over any new information. Sometimes, their minds worked better in the conference room. While they waited for the Richmond Police Department to send over the files, they discussed the facts of the case.

"What about the father?" Rossi asked.

"That's where things get weird. I can't find any record of him at all." Penelope leaned back, willing something to come across her screen that could help her get out of the shitshow she was currently in. "I must have searched his name and variations of such a million times. There's no record of him. I even looked at Dustin's school records. There's nothing to indicate that the father was ever around."

"What about the credit card he used-"

"The account was closed before we even got the case. And before you ask, I even contacted the bank and tried to get info from them. Nada. His face doesn't even show up on their security video feeds." She sighed and removed her glasses. Her head was pounding, and she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Sir, there's nothing I can do. He's a ghost."

"Penelope, this isn't your fault. Why don't we head home and get some sleep? We can look at it with fresh eyes in the morning." He nodded once, effectively dismissing them all.

Penelope sighed and grabbed her bag from the floor. After returning her pens and the file to their places, she unplugged her computer and began shutting it down. The work only made her hands busy, but her thoughts were left to race around her head.

Every part of this case gave her a bad feeling. The ghost father, the lack of a backstory, the method of torture. It was like some movie that she knew would end badly, but that she couldn't figure out how. Not only that, but the fact that her information super highway couldn't find anything made her feel weak and useless. Tears of frustration threatened the corner of her eyes.

"Penelope," She looked up, surprised at the tenderness of Hotch's tone. "You've been staring at a black screen for five minutes." He hesitated a moment, before pulling back the chair next to her and sitting down. "Are you alright?"

Hotch was a man of necessary words. He spoke when needed, and he somehow always knew when that time was. It amazed her just a little bit, that this man who was usually cold and stoic was actually quite warm towards her. It never failed to make her smile.

"Yeah, just tired, I guess." She shrugged and folded her computer closed.

"Penelope." He gave her his _I-know-you're-lying_ look and waited for her to say something else. "Is it Morgan?"

She growled low at him. No one knew about her and Derek's relationship, per say. The 'baby girl's and 'chocolate thunder's had not stopped, but they invoked a different meaning than they had before. The way they acted around one another had changed so little since they had started dating almost a year ago that either the members of the BAU had not noticed, or they pretended to be oblivious. Even Hotch, who noticed practically everything, had not even begun to have any suspicion until almost six months later, when he accidently walked up on them sharing a kiss in the FBI parking garage after a particularly hard case. He had been sworn to secrecy when he confronted her about it, and he dare not break a promise to Penelope Garcia.

"No, it's not Morgan." She smacked his shoulder playfully. Her words and face faltered though when she thought of how concerned and hurt he looked when she brushed him aside the previous night. She sighed, knowing full well that she couldn't bring up the nightmares without revealing what they were about. That wasn't a story she was ready or willing to tell Hotch. "I just have a really bad feeling about this case, that's all."

It wasn't totally a lie, but it also wasn't totally the truth. Maybe he sensed that, because he sat back and looked at her. "If you need someone to talk to, I'm always here." He squeezed her shoulder and left the conference room, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

OoOoOoO

At first, she wasn't quite sure she actually heard it.

Caroline lifted her head and remained still for a moment, listening to the quiet on the street, and she heard the unmistakable sound of crying.

She yawned and left the warmth of her covers. Alex stirred a bit and watched her pull her robe over her thin frame. "Everything okay?"

"I don't know." She tied her robe shut, grabbed her phone just in case, and left the room, headed towards the bedroom at the end of the hall. There it was-soft crying. She pushed open the door quietly. "Austin?"

"Mommy." His voice wavered, and from the dim light of his nightlight she could see tear tracks down his cheeks.

"What's the matter, baby?" She knelt down next to his bed so she was eye level with him.

"I don't feel good." He sat up a bit and leaned on one elbow, frowning at her. Another tear slid down his cheek. She moved his hair from his skin and pressed her lips to his forehead. His little body was quite warm.

"Come here." She picked him up and carried him into the kitchen, intent on getting the first aid kit. She set him on the counter, and pulled the box down from the top shelf next to the stove. After taking his temperature, and finding she was right about his fever, she sighed and looked at him. "Tell me what hurts."

"My head and my throat." He pouted, looking like he was going to burst into tears at any minute.

"What's going on?" Alex appeared from the bedroom and he flicked on the overhead light.

"I think he has strep." She smoothed his hair back again. Alex rifled through the first aid kit, looking for aspirin. Meanwhile, Caroline felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Confused, she took it out and frowned at the screen.

"Who's calling you at two in the morning?" Alex asked, curious.

The number was blocked. "I don't know." She unlocked the phone and accepted the call. "Hello?"

 _"The ace is dealt."_

Just like that, the call was ended.

She didn't even need to hear the message again to know what it meant. The voice was obviously synthesized, masking its owner, but she knew. It chilled her to the bone, and made her whole body freeze in horror.

"Caroline?"

"Mom?"

OoOoOoO

 _She opened her eyes slowly, and blinked several times against the light coming from the window. Her head pounded, almost like a really bad hangover. Her lips were dry as she licked them._

 _"You're awake." She could recognize that voice anywhere. Richard sat next to her bed, leaning casually back in his chair with a tablet on his lap. She turned slowly to look at him, or at least the rough blur that was him._

 _"Where am I?" Her voice was rough and almost inaudible._

 _"You're safe, that's what matters." He shook his head and leaned forward. "Mumbai. You've been out for a few days."_

 _She shut her eyes against the light, but when she did, she saw desert, and fire. Her eyes flew open as her heart started racing. "Caroline-"_

 _"She's okay." He rested a comforting hand on her arm, trying to calm her down. "She's in the room across the hall, resting, as you should be." He stood from his seat and leaned over to kiss her chastely on the forehead. "I'll be back in a little while."_

 _She could already feel herself getting drowsy. It was only a matter of time after he left that she dozed off once more._

 _When she came to, she found her room occupied again. This time, Caroline was the one occupying it._

 _"You're safe." Penelope sighed, closing her eyes in relief. Although Richard had told her that her friend was okay, seeing her sitting in a chair by her bed calmed her anxious mind. Then, she realized that Caroline was not blurry. In fact, she could see her friend's split lip and the pattern of her gown. She reached up tentatively and found the plastic rim of a pair of glasses._

 _"They went back yesterday and cleared the camp…tried to salvage as much of our stuff as possible. Those were found in your bag." She gestured towards the glasses with her good arm. The other was wrapped in a cast and sling bound. When she saw Penelope frown at it, she shrugged. "Broken wrist and a badass looking scar on my side. You got off worse than I did. It's going to be a few weeks before you can even think about crutches."_

 _Penelope glanced down at her cast-bound left leg._

 _"No worries. They're moving us back to Europe. We'll stay there for a few weeks so we can heal." Caroline slid her chair forward and took Penelope's hand reassuringly._

 _"And then what?" She looked at her friend with a small smile._

 _"Home."_

 _OoOoOoO_

A/N: I will try to post as often as I can since I'm not in school for the moment. I don't own anything. Boomie out


	4. Chapter 4

"Penelope."

The technical analyst jumped. She had been absentmindedly stirring her tea, which she almost knocked off the counter. She glared at Emily, grabbing several paper towels from the holder and wiping the tea off her hands. "You scared me."

"I've been calling your name. I thought you heard me!" Emily replied defensively. The smile on her face faded. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." Garcia grumbled. She had to come up with something, anything, to cover her ass. She shouldn't have been daydreaming, but she couldn't really control the flashbacks that suddenly decided to bombard her as of late. "This case is driving me nuts."

"Penelope," Emily took a gentle hold of her arm, stopping her before she could leave, "you know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

"Emily," The blonde sighed, trying to think of the right words to say, "If I could, I would. But for now….i'm sorry." She pulled away. As much as she wanted to go running to her friend and tell her everything, now was not the time or the place. She forced herself to focus on the trek to the conference room. In fact, she was so focused that she almost ran smack into someone in a business suit.

"I am so," She looked up at the woman and froze," sorry."

She was a taller woman, with dark hair and brown eyes. Her gaze was cold and calculating. Her suit was impeccable, her posture-rigid. She glanced at Penelope as though the technical analyst was nothing more than a bug under her shoe.

"You must be the technical analyst." She offered a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"Mrs. Lyle, this is Penelope Garcia. Garcia, Mrs. Lyle works for the State Department." The words 'State Department" chilled her to the bone, but she still offered a sunny smile and stuck her hand out. She refused the hand, turning away from the blonde and moving towards the television so she could see them all. Emily entered behind Penelope, and the two girls took their seats, looking confused. Garcia looked to Hotch, who had introduced the woman to her, but he offered no explanation. His eyebrows did, however, skyrocket when someone familiar entered last and shut the door.

"This is Caroline Moore, my associate." Mrs. Lyle introduced. Penelope opened her mouth to comment on the fact that they already knew her, but Caroline shook her head ever so slightly when Mrs. Lyle looked away. The others must have caught on, because they turned their surprised expressions back towards Mrs. Lyle with no indication that they knew her. Garcia fought the instinct to smile at seeing her best friend.

"Very well, let's get started." Ms. Lyle folded her hands in front of her. Two familiar pictures, one of Julia Knowles and one of Dustin, appeared on the television. "Let me come right out with it. The State Department will be handling all aspects of this case from now on. All of the case files you have received need to be handed over immediately."

A feeling of outrage, confusion, and just plain curiosity seemed to resonate among the group. Even the always-stoic Hotch sported a tight jaw.

"We will also be doing audits of your analyst's computer systems." Mrs. Lyle gestured toward Penelope. "There will be severe repercussions should you decide to investigate this case any further."

"Is there a reason for this?" Hotch asked.

"Our reasons are our own." She replied simply. Penelope looked to Caroline for any kind of explanation, but her friend kept her eyes straight ahead, not reacting to anything that was going on. The dark expression in her face worried Penelope. "This case involves someone in the State Department." Mrs. Lyle let loose that little bit of information like it was supposed to mean something significant, but they were still thoroughly confused. "We will be keeping the investigation internal."

There was a moment of quiet as they digestion the information (or lack thereof) that she was giving them.

"Penelope, take Caroline downstairs. Let her do the audit. Mrs. Lyle can remain with us and get the last of the files." Hotch looked at Garcia and the message was clear. Find out information.

"Right away. Come along, Mrs. Moore." Penelope stood, smile on her face. Despite the seriousness of the situation, she was quite jovial.

Even though Penelope was happy, Caroline was not. A worried scowl seemed permanently etched into her face. Before they got to Penelope's office, she asked where the bathrooms were.

Not even two seconds after they entered the lavatory, Caroline locked the door and was suddenly in business mode. "Check the stalls." Penelope nodded and without word, began opening the stall doors, making sure they were unoccupied. Caroline turned on the taps and the roaring of water filled the room.

"Alright, spill it. What's going on?" Penelope leaned against the counter, looking expectantly at her friend.

"Richard is dead." Caroline looked at her friend, awaiting some reaction. They didn't have much time before someone tried to come in.

"What? How do you know?"

"A phone call at 3 am." Caroline shook her head with a sigh. "That, and they found him shot and disposed of at the bottom of the James River yesterday morning. His real name is Jacob Knowles." Her eyes fell to the ground, and she caught sight of a small water puddle. Penelope's eyes went wide. Suddenly feeling like the room was spinning, she leaned against the counter.

"The case-"

"Jacob Knowles went to work in the State Department. That's why they want to take the case. That's also why all of his records are gone. They didn't want you all looking into him."

Penelope's eyes were still wide, her breath coming in short gasps.

"Penelope, listen to me." Caroline looked like she wanted to cry. The fear was written across her face."Shortly after the phone call, I got this." She pulled out her phone and showed the screen to Penelope, who staggered back. It was Julia Knowles, tied to the chair in the hotel room but very much still alive. A gag in her mouth quieted her, but her eyes were wide and tears stained her cheeks. It made the both of them nauseous to look at it.

"Penelope, they found me."

OoOoOoO

A/N: I AM SO SORRY! I've been working like crazy the last week. I'm posting this from my phone because I don't have my computer, so the chapter will have to be short but I'll post again in a couple days when I get home. I don't own anything. Boomie out


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry for the sporadic updates lately. Between snowmaggedon on the east coast, me getting sick, and my car crapping out, writing has been very difficult. It may take some adjusting to my writing schedule as I am once again bombarded with class assignments, so be vigilant.

ANYWAYS back to the story. Enjoy!

OoOoOoO

She should have known that Derek would try and comfort her.

Garcia tried to ignore him as he entered her office, focusing on the files that she was currently converting from paper to screen. After their brief chat in the bathroom, she and Caroline had done the audit in complete silence. Once that was over, she felt desperate for something to do. Her hands were itching to type, her mind desperate to disappear into a pile of code and never surface again. Making the files paperless was a task that gave her something to do without having to think so hard.

"Penelope." He gently caught her hand as she reached for another file. The machine went silent, awaiting its next orders. She wanted to pull away from him and his probing gaze, but his dark eyes drew her in. She was burying her face in his chest before she even realized what she was doing.

"Baby girl," he sighed into her hair,"I hate seeing you like this."

She sighed heavily into his chest, felt the tears begin to roll down her cheeks. Not telling him was killing her.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled. He pulled back with a frown.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." He removed her glasses and cupped her cheeks, wiping her tears away with his thumb. "I just want to know how I can help you." He returned her glasses back to her nose and she pushed them up with her index finger.

"You can't, Derek." She touched his cheek fondly and left the room.

OoOoOoO

She was early, but that was normal. Contrary to popular belief, Penelope was almost always on time with everything. Usually, she received some self-gratification at always being early. However, tonight, the wait was going to kill her. At first, she waited in the car. Then, she got out and paced a bit. Then, she hopped back in the car. She tried radio, no radio. Every noise or chatter on the street made her jittery.

"Pen," She jumped suddenly, not even realizing that her friend had crept up to the driver's side door, "Geez, you need to calm down."

"How can you be so calm?" She hissed, climbing out of her car.

"Because I have to be, Garcia." Caroline replied, narrowing her eyes. "Come on. You need a drink."

The bar they had decided to meet at was a local hot spot, especially on a Friday night. That was key-crowds meant privacy. It was something they both agreed on when they made the plan to meet there. Plus, to say they both desperately needed a drink was an understatement.

Once they seated themselves and grabbed drinks, Garcia felt a bit more relaxed. It could have also been the fact that her friend was being so passive about the whole situation. It was like the idea of being hunted didn't bother her at all.

"So, how's Derek? Caroline leaned forward, sipping on her drink. Her smile was playful, but her gaze was intense. Her message was clear: Play along.

"Fine, I guess. He wants me to come to Chicago for Christmas." Penelope nonchalantly drank her drink. She watched Caroline sit back a moment, wide eyed. "What?"

"He wants you to meet the family? Already? It's only been a year."

"Is that a bad thing?" Penelope frowned.

"No, not at all." Caroline chuckled and leaned forward. Her drink was placed to the side. "Look, if he invited you, that means he trusts you. Besides, when is the last time you actually spent Christmas with someone. Speaking of," Caroline turned and rummaged through her purse for a moment," I got you something." She pulled a small white box from her purse and placed it on the table. "An early Christmas gift."

"But it's Nov-"

"Well, I'm not sure if I'll see you before then." Caroline interrupted with a glare. "So, consider it an early gift."

Penelope opened the box, albeit hesitantly. Inside was a small necklace-a silver chain with a circle of diamonds. "Oh its beautiful." She breathed.

"I'm glad you like it." Caroline sat back, a small smile on her face. The gift was sudden, and unnecessary. Neither of them had been gift givers in the past, so why start now? Penelope frowned a bit as she remembered something that JJ said a while ago…about her sister…Her eyes flew up, surprised, to her friend, who had been watching the change in Penelope's emotions. Her face was stoic. "Let's go for a walk."

Penelope didn't relax at all, not even when they got onto the street. They walked silently past her car and began their stroll down the sidewalk. It had rained earlier in the afternoon-normally that would make Penelope worry for her shoes, but tonight she didn't care.

"I'm not going to do anything rash, if that's what you're worried about." Caroline said softly, once she was sure they were alone. "Gonna take off for a few days. Alex took Austin to the mountains."

"What should I do?" Garcia's hands shook, from the cold and from nerves.

"Keep quiet, as always. You're going to hate me for saying it," She hesitated," but maybe you should tell the team." Garcia opened her mouth to protest, but Caroline cut her off. "You are going to have to tell them eventually, Penelope." Caroline watched her friend begin to pace across the wet pavement. "This will get too big to contain. Maybe they can help."

"I lied to them." Garcia stopped and removed her glasses, a nervous habit. "About what I did, where I was. They will hate me."

"I'm sorry, Pen." Caroline sighed. "But you have no choice. If you don't tell them, I will."

With that, she moved past her friend, leaving her alone in the dark.

OoOoOoO

A/N: I know it's short...and i'm sorry! I'll have more time to write this weekend. Thanks for your patience! I own nothing. Boomie out


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Yay! Finally found time to write! Enjoy!

OoOoOoO

Aaron Hotchner had a habit of watching out of the window in his office, rather than doing work. Of course he wouldn't admit it, but it was one of the reasons he would stay late into the night. Hours would be lost just staring out at the street of into the bullpen, thinking deeply about anything and everything.

Today, a particular blonde technical analyst had caught his attention.

Of course, the others had mentioned to him that something was going on with her. He had noticed it, too, but he wasn't quite ready to open that can of worms. She had told him what happened in Pakistan-not all of it, but enough to understand what she was going through.

He watched them talking around Reid's desk. He said something, and they all laughed. Hotch stood from his desk and stretched, then grabbed the files for the next case. He had just exited his office when a particularly irritated-looking Mrs. Lyle stepped off the elevators and stormed into the bullpen. When she blew past the group, they scattered, looking confused.

"Mrs. Lyle. What can we do for you?" Hotch replied coolly. Rossi exited his office and watched the woman stomp up the stairs with a confused look on his face.

"May I speak with you? And your analyst?" Her jaw was set, fury burning in her eyes.

"Penelope." He called. He looked over to her and gestured with his head for her to come over. "Mrs. Lyle, in my office."

Once the three of them were in the office, he closed the door and dropped the shades to ward off nosy looks.

"All I asked was for an audit. That's all I asked for. I get to my analysts only to find that all of the data you had given us had been deleted!" Mrs. Lyle had spoken before either of them had a chance to take a break. She looked like she was about to throw something, that's how angry she was. "Why can't we access the data?"

"Penelope?" Hotch frowned at her. Sure, she was known to protest injustice, but this was the state department. Making the files impossible to access seemed like a child's move.

"I never did anything to those files!" Penelope shrugged, voice rising in worry. And it was true, she hadn't. Everything she had on that case had been placed on a flash drive that she had given to Caroline.

 _Caroline. What was she playing at?_

"And now, my agent has gone missing." Mrs. Lyle seemed to be losing her steam. She plopped in a seat, looking deflated. Penelope frowned at her. Of course, she knew Caroline had taken off, but she could at least act surprised.

"Mrs. Moore is missing?" Hotch stuffed his hands in his pockets. He looked between Penelope and Mrs. Lyle with a scowl.

"She never showed up for work this morning. Her partner went by her house and found her entire family just gone. I don't know what to do." She sighed and stood from the chair.

"Mrs. Lyle, I didn't touch those files."

"I'm sure you didn't." Mrs. Lyle replied softly. "I'll go see if my analysts have made any headway."

"Mrs. Lyle, if you need Penelope to go and try to find those files for you, I'm sure she'd be happy to help." Hotch offered. Penelope snuck a glance at him out of the corner of her eye, afraid he'd be angry with her.

"I may take you up on that, thank you." Mrs. Lyle nodded and made to leave.

"I didn't do anything." Penelope defended herself not a second after the agent had left.

"Penelope, what is going on?" Hotch whipped around to glare at her. "The State Department is on our case, and now files have gone missing? On top of that, every member of this team has mentioned that something is wrong with you." She opened her mouth to speak but couldn't find the words. "Where is Caroline?"

"I don't know." She blurted out. "She just mentioned she was getting away for a few days."

"Why?"

"Jacob Knowles." His eyes widened a bit when she said that. "His real name was Robert. He was our task leader in Pakistan."

"Penelope-sit. Now." He was getting irritated. "Do they know who you are?"

"I don't know."

"How does she figure into all of this?" He demanded.

"Whoever tortured Julia and Dustin sent her a photo before they were killed. She assumed….she assumed they were onto her so she decided to disappear for a few days." Watching him sigh and return behind his desk, she jittered her fingers. "Friday night, we went out for a drink. She gave me a necklace and in the bottom of the box under the insert was a flash drive. I think it may have the files that are missing."

"What's on them?"

"I'm not a hundred percent sure. Robert went to work for the State Department after we left Pakistan He was hoping that he could find something to end all this. If he found something that got him killed, it may be on there."

"Okay." He murmured, obviously thinking hard. He sat in his chair and sighed. "If she thought you needed the flash drive, then it was probably for a reason. I'm glad you waited to look at it." He leaned forward and placed his intertwined hands on his desk.

"Sir, it would be safer if I looked at it here. That's why I waited so-"

"Penelope," he stopped her," before you do anything, I need to know. Are they safe?" He gestured out to the bullpen, and she could suddenly feel eyes on her. They must be mighty curious as to what was taking so long.

"Their files are all secure. Even if someone hacks me, they won't get to them." She lowered her eyes, suddenly doubting her words. "I won't let them."

"Do what you can." He replied."And Penelope, you need to talk to someone." He urged. "The nightmares will only get worse if you don't. Get to work." He dismissed her.

OoOoOoO

"Project Xerox." She shook her head and leaned back, frowning at her laptop screen. "That idiot actually had something." She glanced at the locked door again, still feeling anxious. For privacy's sake, only two of her screens were up. Her door was locked, lights dimmed. Her shaking hands fiddled with anything to distract her.

Hotch had told anyone who asked that he had sent her home for the day.

She scrolled through the case files, ones she had looked at many times, looking for anything newly added. Before she could, however, her phone buzzed on her desk. She picked it up and looked at it.

 _If you're still in the bat cave, I can walk home with you. -Reid_

She smiled to herself. Of course the doctor would know she was still here. She took one glance at her screen and decided to call it quits. It was after dinner, and her stomach grumbled. She closed the files and unplugged the flash drive. Once she was sure that everything was shut down, she looked at the small blue drive in her hand.

Keeping it on her was dangerous, but where could she hide it? She thought for a moment and suddenly got an idea.

 _I'll meet you by the elevator,_ She texted Reid. After swinging briefly by Morgan's desk, she made her way over to where the sweater-vest-clad prodigy was waiting for her.

"You okay, Garcia?" He asked, cocking his head and looking at her with curiosity as they rode the elevator down to street level.

"I'm fine." She smiled at him. "What about you? Read any cool comics lately?"

Boy did that get him on a tangent. He started rambling on about some Star Trek comic that he found at an auction. After that, it was nothing but chatter as they exited the building and began their walk to the train. Hearing him ramble about something was one of the things she missed the most when in Pakistan. Sometimes, she would just let him talk and talk, losing track of the conversation but not wanting to stop him. He was adorable when he was excited about something.

Maybe that's why she didn't notice the black truck following them. Maybe that's why she didn't realize that Reid had been wacked in the back of the head until her arms were being forced behind her by hands much stronger than hers. A cloth was placed over her nose and mouth, and then her vision began to go blurry.

She saw Reid motionless on the sidewalk, and then her world went dark.

OoOoOoOo

A/N: BEFORE YOU ASK- everything will be explained in the next two chapters-the plot, everything. So PLEASE be patient with me as I try to crank these chapters out. I promise you will have answers soon. As usual, I don't own anything. Boomie out.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hey guys! I promise an explanation is coming (it's literally in the next chapter) but I need to put this little filler in here before I can just jump into explaining things. I post whenever I can, but I already have the next chapter written so it may be up as early as Monday night. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

OoOoOoO

"This is crazy." JJ muttered quietly, standing in the doorway of Reid's hospital room. She leaned her head against the cool metal that felt good against her fevered forehead.

"I just don't understand it." Emily leaned against the wall opposite her blonde friend and watched the steady rise and fall of her friend's breathing. "Good thing is, at least he'll be okay."

"But Penelope-"

"We'll find her." Emily reassured. "Lord knows we are the best team for the job."

"Hey guys." Hotch came to the doorway and looked at the both of them. "He's waking up."

The three of them reentered the hospital room, joining the others. Rossi leaned against the wall, hands casually in his pockets. Morgan sat slumped against the wall, looking like a combination of fury, anxiety, and sadness. He looked like a bull that was trapped in his pen. JJ came over to him and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"How're you feeling, kid?" Rossi asked when he saw the genius' eyes flutter open.

"Like I got hit by a truck." Reid licked his lips and sighed, still not fully awake. "What happened?" His eyes flew open. "Where's Penelope?"

"We haven't found her yet, but we will." Hotch spoke up. Although his face was calm, his eyes held rage. "Do you remember anything?"

Reid shook his head. "I just remember we were walking to the station. I got hit with something and then everything-everything went black." He looked like he was about to cry, eyes filling with tears.

"Did she say anything before you guys left? Did she think someone was following her?" Hotch asked. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Morgan get up and exit the room to pace angrily in the hall.

"No." Reid shook his head.

"Okay." Hotch breathed, looking….disappointed? Emily frowned at him, wondering what he was trying to find out. "You have a concussion and a broken leg, but you should be able to head home tomorrow. We'll have someone here to keep an eye on you until then, okay?"

Reid nodded, and then frowned. He was asleep again before they knew it. Hotch gestured to the hallway and they all left, feeling downtrodden.

"What the hell is going on?" Emily sighed, placing her hands on her hips.

"I don't know." Hotch shook his head. "But every second we spend here is time that Penelope is missing. We will not touch any new cases until we get her back, do you understand?" They all nodded in agreement. "Morgan-" Hotch called over to the side. The others dispersed, leaving the two of them alone. "I want you to stay here with Reid. You're too involved."

"Of course I'm involved, Hotch." You could practically see the smoke coming from his nostrils. "The sonofabitch took my _girlfriend._ " He paced irritably.

"Morgan-"

"Don't _Morgan_ me." Hotch flinched as Derek slammed his fist into the wall. Several nurses at the nurses' station jerked up at the loud noise.

"You can either stay here with Reid, or go home. But there is no way in hell I'm letting you on this case, not if you're going to punch a wall every time you get pissed off." Hotch was angry, it was evident in his voice. He watched Morgan with a clenched jaw, fighting the instinct to punch him. "Now go in there, or go home, that's an order."

Morgan said nothing, but he stomped angrily into the room, leaving Hotch to shake his head alone in the hallway.

OoOoOoO

The second time Spencer woke up, it was just past two in the morning.

He glanced around and saw Morgan, who was glaring out the window as though he were trying to shatter it with his thoughts.

He frowned at the ceiling, recalling the conversation they had had before he passed out. He felt so stupid, letting her get abducted like that. The heart rate monitor spiked as anxiety seemed to flood his chest. Maybe if he had been paying attention and not rambling, he would have seen that they were being followed. Maybe if he were more like Morgan….

"Hey kid." Derek's dark eyes looked over to him. "How are you feeling?"

"Better." He noticed a tray across the bed, and a cup of water. He took a sip, which turned to gulps as he realized just how thirsty he was. When he finished, he set it back on the tray. He looked around for a moment. "Where is everybody?"

"They are trying to find her." Morgan leaned back, shaking his head and looking angry again.

Reid's eyes went wide, suddenly remembering something Penelope had told him. "Where's my phone?"

"What?"

"Where is it?" Reid sat up, despite the throbbing of his head. "I need it."

"Okay, kid. Hold on." Morgan's voice rose a bit as he began rifling through Reid's bag. One he found the phone, he handed it to the kid. "What's going on?"

"I just need to do something." He squinted at the screen, barely making out the contacts as he rifled through them. A few names caught his eye-the landlady, JJ, and finally the name he was looking for. _Caroline._ Now what was he supposed to say?

Suddenly, he remembered something Penelope had said:

 _"Hey Reid." They were walking along the street, coffees in hand. When she had asked him to come along so she could grab a few things before she left the country, he had agreed rather reluctantly. Despite his misgivings at first, it had been a rather enjoyable evening. Although, the fact of her imminent departure from the US put a slight damper on things._

 _"Yeah, Garcia?" She looked at him apprehensively._

 _"If I asked, would you….would you take my phone number?"_

 _He frowned, confused. "But I already-"_

 _"No, I mean-" She chuckled."-part of this whole 'fighting-terrorism' thing is that I can't have personal communication. If something happens to me, I want you to call this number." She handed him a small card. "My partner's number is on there, too."_

 _"But, I mean, why me?" He stammered, taking the card reluctantly._

 _"Because I trust you, dummy." She nudged him with her shoulder. "Anyway, Caroline likes Mario just as much as you do." She winked at him._

 _"But I don't like Mario?"_

His eyes flew open, and he sent a quick text to her number, knowing exactly what to say. He just hoped she would understand what he meant. When he was done, the phone fell to his side and he leaned his head back, suddenly feeling exhausted.

OoOoOoO

He awoke again in the early hours of the morning.

Derek was gone, the room was empty. _Must have gone to get a coffee or something,_ he thought.

He could still feel the phone by his side, but a glance at the screen told him that there was no reply. He suddenly felt stupid for texting her in the first place.

A nurse entered, wearing blue and grey scrubs. "How you feeling this morning?" Something about the look in the guy's eyes made Reid's gut churn. The hairs stood up on the back of his neck.

"Better, thanks." The nurse pulled out a small vial and Reid frowned. "What's that?"

"Pain relievers." He said simply.

"Carbenicillin?" Reid questioned, squinting at the bottle. "No you can't! I have a severe reaction to-"

"Well, that's too bad." The nurse gave him a terse smile, one that could only be described as pure evil.

"Hey, no stop!" Reid yanked the IV from his arm, and in the process knocked the vial onto the floor. The nurse bent down to retrieve it, and Reid tried desperately to get out of bed.

When the nurse stood-he had a gun in his hand.

Before Reid could even react, there was a loud _BANG!_

He jumped, closing his eyes and bracing for an impact that never came. He opened his eyes and looked up cautiously, eyebrows furrowed.

The nurse had been knocked to the ground, and he was clutching his head and groaning. Caroline stood in his room, holding a metal dinner tray at her side and looking a little worse for wear. She smiled at him and held the tray like it was a trophy.

"You called?"

OoOoOoO

A/N: I am such an idiot. Literally I have had this chapter in here and just forgot to post it. Sorry guys! I don't own anything. Boomie out


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Hello all! This is it! The explanation chapter! It will be long, and that is primarily because I didn't want to break it up. It's also partially because I won't be able to post for a while. So, I hope you enjoy!

The metal tray clattered to the ground, echoing around the quiet hospital.

"Are you okay?" Her words startled him. He looked up, mouth open like a fish

"Yeah-yeah I'm f-fine." He watched her, wide-eyed. "Where did you come from?"

"You called me, didn't you? She replied nonchalantly. She was determined all of a sudden. She came around the side of the bed and grabbed the guy off of the floor by the collar of his scrubs. "'Princess Peach has been taken.' I have to say, it took me a minute to figure it out."

"Who sent you?" She shoved killer-dude into the wall and placed her forearm over his throat. He sputtered for breath and then smiled ruefully.

"An old friend." He laughed maniacally. His tongue moved to the back of his mouth, and suddenly he was biting down hard on something.

"No no no," He began foaming at the mouth, and writhing violently under her grip. It lasted less than a minute, and he was dead. "Dammit." She let him drop roughly to the ground.

"Reid!" Morgan came jogging back into the room, but froze at the doorway. "What the hell?"

"My thoughts exactly." Reid replied breathlessly from the bed.

OoOoOoO

Getting Reid checked out was easy. Getting the dead guy taken care of, not so much.

In fact it wasn't until the doctors determined that it was a suicide that they could even think about leaving.

It was during that time when the rest of the BAU showed up, looking completely and utterly confused. Of course, explaining it was rather easy. But even after Caroline had finished talking, they still looked wary of the situation.

"What do we do?" Hotch had murmured to her. She looked at him through narrowed eyes, as if wondering what he thought he knew.

"Look, I promise I will tell you everything. But not here." She looked at each of them and sighed. "Anyone fancy a drink?"

OoOoOoO

 _The Stout_ was a small tavern, with rustic looking floors and dark walls. Different photos of different patrons lined the walls, stretching back to the twenties. In the corner, a raised platform stood, creating a stage for a live band. The booths were old and worn, the bar stools creaky, but it was still a local hangout.

Of course, it was only eleven in the morning, so the place was deserted.

Caroline led them through the back of the tavern, flicking on lights as she went.

"What is this place?" JJ's gaze was on the photos. She smiled a bit at the patron's drunken endeavors that had been documented in black and white form.

"It's a tavern. Back when it first opened, it was a jazz club." Caroline moved behind the bar and leaned on the counter. "People used to come here during the prohibition and they would sneak alcohol out the back."

"You own it?" Emily helped Reid into a barstool.

"Well, my dad does. The apartment above us is a safe house." Caroline shrugged and began pouring drinks for all of them. After setting waters in front of Reid and JJ, she leaned back and pulled a file out from under the counter.

"Is this-"

"Everything." She finished for Hotch. The others frowned, looking at her with confusion. "What do you guys know about Garcia's job in Pakistan?"

"Nothing really." Rossi took a sip of his drink.

"Wasn't it counterterrorism?" Morgan frowned.

"She told me some things." Hotch replied. Caroline looked at him, surprised.

"Okay, it wasn't really counterterrorism." She opened the file and scanned through it. "First of all, we weren't in Karachi, at least not technically. We were in a small city twenty-five miles south. Now, I can't tell you exactly where, so I'll call this town Yondu. See, three months before we were called to Pakistan, a CIA informant went missing. He was investigating the imports and exports of a Karachi businessman named Abdul Hassan."

"What was he investigating?" Reid asked.

"There had been reports coming in of weapons development. The State Department believed there was a chance that he could be selling them illegally to Iran. It wasn't until a few months after we got there that we began digging further into what he was investigating, and we found these-" She leaned forward and pulled out several forms, all the same but filled out differently.

"Missing children's reports?" JJ took one of them and scanned over it, then she handed it to Emily-the only one of their group who could speak Urdu.

"He was only ten." She commented sadly.

"All of them were boys between the ages of ten and thirteen, most of them were on the older side of that spectrum. All abducted from the same region-Karachi-and all on the same day of the week-Tuesdays." She shook her head. "We sent an agent into the city to speak with the locals. We found out that it wasn't just these kids, it was also transients-orphans, the homeless. One woman even claimed that she saw a homeless woman and her son being dragged apart by men in black uniforms."

"Why did your informant think it was Abdul?" Hotch asked.

"Because all of his shipments went out on Wednesdays. He was also purchasing more and more storage containers that weren't consistent the amount of goods he was sending out."

"Child trafficking?" Reid asked. He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest, his brow furrowing. "What did they want the kids for?"

"We assumed it was a terrorist group that Abdul had somehow gotten involved with. They sometimes use children as young soldiers." She replied. "But we didn't have a whole lot of evidence to corroborate that he was even involved." Caroline replied. "His lawyers were crazy tight on security. We tried for months to get into bank accounts and find _something_ that we could use, but we had nothing. In fact, they were getting ready to pull us out when we found him." She slid a picture out from the file. A young boy, maybe eleven years old, looked back at the team with dead eyes and a stoic face. There was a bruise above his left temple and his lip was split. "His name was Ismael. He was eleven."

"You found him alive?" Rossi asked, taking the photo and inspecting it further.

"Yup. According to him, he had been in a transport van when he passed out. They must have thought he was dead, so they dumped him in the desert. We found him wandering just north of the city." She sighed.

"Did he give you anything important?" Hotch inquired.

"Me? No. He preferred Penelope." She smiled a bit. "They got really close in no time. But," she hesitated and her eyes dropped to the counter.

"What happened?" Reid asked.

"He was murdered in his sleep two days after we found him." Her reply was quiet, almost like she herself hadn't come to terms with it. There was an intake of breath from the girls. Hotch shook his head, looking disgusted. "Penelope was the one who found him. It broke her." She looked at Morgan, eyes pleading for him to understand _why_ she didn't like to talk about it. He seemed to understand, because he sighed and shook his head.

"What did you do?" Reid asked softly.

"We buried him. I thought Penelope was going to be sent back home, that's how torn up she was. But," Caroline cocked her head to the side and thought for a moment, "she is resilient. She came to me a few days later all hyped up because she had an idea. See, she figured that there was no way someone could have come into the camp to kill this kid. So, it had to be someone on our own team. When we told our team leader, he told us that if we were to look into it, we had to do it quietly."

"But wait," Morgan frowned," What does this have to do with the case now?"

"I'm getting there." She held a finger up. She took the folder back off the counter and rummaged through before pulling out five small cards. "There were five of us on the research team. Penelope and I." she placed two pictures face up on the counter. "Rajesh and Emilia." two more pictures were placed on the counter. A dark skinned man, seemingly Indian, and a dark haired woman. "And Robert." The last and final picture was placed, and the team did a double take.

"But that's-"

"Jacob Knowles." Caroline finished for JJ. "That was the alias that was created for him when he went to work for the State Department upon our return to the States. His code name on radio was Ace."

"We found Ace written on the wall." Rossi shook his head.

"We each had a code name. I was Reaper, Emilia was Viper, Rajesh was Oak, and Penelope was Seven. We didn't even really use them very often, it was just something fun we came up with one night." She continued.

"So, whoever was kidnapping those children followed you to the States. Why?" Morgan looked at her. She seemed to deflate a bit, a look of dread showing in her eyes.

"Once Ismael was killed, we still had very little. They were packing us up to leave when Penelope finally broke through the some of the firewalls in Abdul Hassan's business network. We were able to get a little bit more information. Robert was able to grant us a few day's extension to stay behind and wrap up the project. A majority of the camp vacated into Karachi-we were left behind with fifteen or so men. The day after everyone left, the camp was attacked." She took a deep breath and clenched the counter tops, knuckles turning white. "They blew up the tent that Penelope and I had been staying in. I guess they thought they killed us. We were able to get to the command tent and download the last of the data before they even knew we were still alive. I don't know how we managed to make it to the trucks, but we did." She frowned to herself. " I don't remember much after that." She took a deep breath and blinked a few times. "Woke up in a hospital in Mumbai with a nasty hole in my side. Penelope got away with a shattered knee cap."

"Dammit." Morgan whispered to himself, getting off of his stool to pace angrily.

"Caroline," Hotch called her softly," we can take a break if we need to."

"No." She shook her head, biting back tears. "Look, there's more to the story that you have to know so that we can find her." She insisted.

"Okay." He murmured. He lowered himself slowly back onto his stool.

"After we got hurt, we were flown to London and we stayed there so we could recover. Robert brought us together after a few weeks, just the five of us, and he told us that the CIA had received an encrypted email from someone who called himself Jinn."

"Jinn?" Reid frowned.

"That mean something to you?" Emily asked him.

"They are supernatural creatures in Middle Eastern folklore that can influence human kind for good or evil. They're considered to rank below angels." He nodded, as though he were happy to use his eidetic memory for once in the conversation. "They can sometimes even appear in animal form."

"Anyway, the file contained documents on each of us. He had all of our information." Caroline shook her head angrily. "He had info on you guys, my parents, friends that we had in high school, even. He told us that if we dropped the case, he would leave us alone. He wouldn't harm anyone. If we didn't, he would kill every person in the file."

"And you took it?" Morgan asked her incredulously.

"Well, we were sort of forced into it, but yes." She replied, her tone rising to meet his. "None of us wanted to risk losing anyone. Look, it killed every single one of us to make that decision."

"Is that why Robert continued on into the State Department?" Spender asked.

"Yeah. It was also partially to keep an eye on us, but he also hoped that he could find out more information, which he did." Caroline replied.

"What did he find?" Hotch chimed in.

"I didn't get much of a chance to look at the data, but from what I can tell, someone in Abdul Hassan's company decided to give him access to their entire system." At their confused glances, she continued. "See, when Abdul's business partners found out that he was the subject of an illegal weapons investigation, they began pulling out. He was facing bankruptcy, so he decided to give us complete access. That's what Robert was looking into when he was killed."

"So, where is the data?" Emily asked.

"On a flash drive that Robert gave to me, which I then gave to Penelope when I tried to go into hiding."

"Well now I understand." Hotch replied.

"The problem is, I need to get that flash drive. If it falls into the wrong hands-"

"I think I may know where it is." Reid spoke up, raising his hand like a child in class. "She stopped by Derek's desk before we left last night."

"Okay, so Derek, Emily and I will go to the BAU and get the drive. Then we'll come back here?" Hotch looked to her for confirmation.

"Wait, before you go, there's one more thing you should know." She stopped them. "You know that Penelope would never keep secrets to harm you, right? Sometimes, it has to-"

"Caroline, spit it out." Rossi urged.

"We were living in the U.S for over two years before you called us back to D.C."


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Hey guys. Sorry for the delay. I am going to try to start posting on Mondays since that is the one day I know I will have time to write. Hope y'all enjoy!

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"You what?" Emily was the first one to speak. The others had already gotten out of their seats to leave, but they stopped and looked at her wide-eyed.

"Robert was worried that the deal would fall out. So, they put us in Witness Protection when we got back to the States."

"But…you were-" Spencer's shoulders sagged.

"The only reason we were allowed to leave the program is because Abdul Hassan was killed. Robert was able to convince the Department of Justice that since Hassan was dead, we were no longer in danger. They gave us the option of leaving the program or staying in it." She sighed. "Rajesh and Emilia are still in hiding."

"But," Morgan frowned at her," Penelope told us you were in Dubai?"

"We were. For two weeks." She replied. "When Abdul died, there was a massive overhaul of his operating systems and business records. Many of his business partners were living in Dubai. We were sent with the higher ups to sort through everything. Penelope got the call only a week after we got there." She folded her arms across her chest, watch them with anticipation.

"She lied to us." It was a quiet murmur from JJ, but it seemed to reverberate around the room, smacking each of them in the chest as it did so.

"But it makes so much sense." Reid replied quietly, thinking deeply.

"I just hate that she wasn't able to tell anyone." Morgan, surprisingly, was calm. Hotch watched him, afraid he'd snap, but he just clenched his jaw and shook his head.

"Look," Caroline spoke up, "you're welcome to be angry or whatever, but I need you to help me find her first."

"Alright," Hotch looked to the rest of the team, "let's go."

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"So, how is this going to work?" Emily leaned forward, looking over Morgan's shoulder as they pulled into the parking garage.

"We walk in like normal. As far as anyone knows, we are still working Penelope's case." Hotch said from the front as they pulled into a spot. "No matter what," he said, getting out of the truck, "we stay together. No leaving until the other two are good to leave as well. Let's go."

He nodded and the three began their walk into the building, eyes sweeping carefully over everything. Their senses were on high alert. Thankfully, once they got into the building, they felt a bit safer. However, Caroline had warned them that the people who took Penelope most likely knew where they were working. They had to act like they didn't know that.

"Relax," Hotch murmured to Emily, noting her stiff shoulders. Once they checked in, they headed for the elevators to the bullpen.

A long, uncomfortable ride later, they made their way through the bullpen, trying to look as casual as possible. Emily and Morgan both made their way to their desks, and Hotch to his office. The several other workers in the bullpen looked up as they came in, but looked away uninterested as they realized it was just the BAU.

Morgan set his bag on his desk and frowned at it, wondering where she could have put a flash drive that he would be able to find it easily. He began rifling through his drawers, looking for anything that resembled a flash drive, but there was nothing. He sighed, and plopped in his chair, scanning his desk through narrowed eyes. His eyes caught the few pictures he kept on his desk-him and his mom, Penelope, and a group picture of the team, taken when they all returned to DC.

He picked up the last photo and flipped it over. "Penelope, you sneaky little-" The back was only half on, done in a haste. He hid it under his desk, so as not to alert the security cameras to what he was doing. He removed it and, sitting in the back of the frame, was the drive. He took it from the back of the frame and placed the backing back onto the photo. After the photo was safely placed back on his desk, he stood and grabbed a file folder, keeping his face stoic.

"Emily." Her head jerked up as he came over. "I need to go." He glared at her intently, willing her to follow along. Getting out of there had to be done carefully.

"You okay?" She frowned at him, playing along. Hotch must have been watching, because he came out of his office and over to them. Several people were watching, frowns on their faces.

"Derek, we need to be here to find her." Hotch urged.

"I can't, man." Morgan shook his head. "It's hard I can't." He turned quickly and stalked off, even adding an intake of breath just to make it more believable. In reality, he did have to fight tears. The idea that Penelope was out there, alone, made his blood boil. However, the fact that she felt she couldn't talk to him and tell him what had been going on…he felt like someone had poked holes in his lungs and he couldn't breathe. He barely even registered that Hotch and Emily had followed him out, calling him back.

"Hey, slow down a sec." Emily called him back to the present. He didn't realize that he had been speed walking so fast that they couldn't keep up. He slowed his pace as they entered the parking garage and took a big breath. "You ok?"

"Yeah." He shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"We'll find her." Emily smiled reassuringly and weaved her hand through his arm, resting her hand on his forearm so he was escorting her through the garage.

"Let's get out of here." Hotch urged quietly.

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"We're being followed." At first, Morgan wasn't sure he heard Emily right.

"Em, make the next right." Hotch told her, calm as usual. "Stay calm. Don't freak out just yet." He pulled out his phone and dialed a number, putting it on speaker and keeping it low on his lap.

"Hotch. You guys ok?" Caroline's voice came over the speaker.

"We're being followed. Can't come back just yet."

"Where are you?" She asked.

"Corinth and Baron." He replied.

"I'll see what I can do. Get them on Orange Street, it's two blocks up from you. I can try to block them from there." She hung up and he looked at Emily, who made a right turn like he told her to. The black car made the turn behind them, and sped up a bit.

"Take a left here." Emily did as he asked, and the SUV followed, gaining momentum. "Orange street is two blocks on the left." He watched the rearview mirror intensely. Morgan gripped the seat back in front of him tightly, palms sweating.

"Step on it, Em." Hotch's voice was intense. She gripped the wheel harder, knuckles turning white as she pressed harder on the accelerator. The SUV sped up as well. They were flying through alleys, thankfully unoccupied, bricks flashing past quickly. Brakes squealed when they made another left.

"Hotch, he's gaining." Morgan practically shouted, glancing quickly behind them. There was maybe a car's length between them now. Emily had just driven by an alley opening when a car suddenly came out on the side street they had just passed. It barely missed the tail end of the FBI vehicle. The SUV didn't have enough time to stop before it plowed into the back of the other car.

"Shit!" Emily cursed she went to press on the brakes, but Hotch stopped her.

"Keep going." He urged. "Go!" Emily stepped on the gas.

She remained with a tight grip on the steering wheel up until they pulled into the alley behind the pub. Hotch looked at her and put the truck in park.

"Emily," Hotch spoke softly. She took a shaky breath and released the steering wheel, but her face was still pale as a sheet. The back door to the pub opened, and she jerked in surprise.

Caroline had come out onto the street. They got out of the truck and moved around the side to meet her. Emily stumbled out of the driver's seat, and Caroline caught her before she fell.

"Hey, come on, it's okay." Caroline helped steady her. "You're alright." Emily nodded, the color beginning to return to her face.

"What the hell was that?" Morgan demanded.

"A cop owed me a favor. He was the car in the alley. Now, come on, let's get you guys inside." Caroline ushered them through the back.

Once they were safely in the pub, Emily was placed gently in a booth. JJ jogged over to sit with her, asking if she was okay.

"Why were they following us?" Morgan turned on Caroline, jaw tight. She frowned at him, and put her hands on her hips.

"Morgan-" Hotch tried to step in.

"No." Morgan glared at him and drew closer to Caroline, practically fuming. "How can we trust you? Every time-EVERY TIME you've been here, someone has tried to kill us."

"Derek, back off." Hotch growled.

"Every single second you spend getting in my face is a second that they are torturing her." Caroline hissed in reply. She stepped forward, bringing herself up close to glare him in the eyes. "If you want your girlfriend killed then please, continue. But until then, I'll just keep _saving_ your life."

Morgan reached into his pocket, grabbed the flash drive, and tossed it on the bar. He then stormed off, going back out the alley for some air.

"Girlfriend?" Reid frowned at her, but she didn't say anything. She cast a glance at Hotch and then moved over to the bar.

She pulled out a laptop and plugged in the drive eagerly. "Alright, let's get started."

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A/N: I hope I wrote this out well...Anyways I own nothing. Boomie out


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: I AM SO SORRY! Shit hit the fan in a big way. Enjoy!

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She forced herself to take a deep breath, despite the screaming of her ribs and throbbing of her head. Blood dribbled out from her lips, the metallic taste pervading her mouth. She raised her head slightly, fighting to see beyond the blur that was the room around her. She focused her gaze on two rough blurs across the room, leaning together and talking quietly.

"Sir," a third person entered, anxiety in his voice,"we tailed them from the FBI building but lost them in back alleys."

"Lost them?" The first guy turned to the man, voice cold and harsh. _Hold on, I know that voice._ "How could you LOSE them?" He got up in the guy's face, towering over him.

"They-they had help, sir. A cop got ahold of them when they crashed into him."

"SHIT!" The first guy punched the wall. "I want them dead." He hissed, and began pacing like a wild animal. Penelope knew he would probably take out his rage on her, which made her wince in apprehension.

"We think we may know who was helping them, sir." The small guy piped up, still shaking with nerves.

"Caroline.." The first guy growled low. "Take her out. I want her dead. I want all of them dead."

"Sir, she's gone off the grid. All of her files have been erased." He replied. "We don't know where she is."

"Oh," the first guy said lowly. Even not being able to see, Penelope could tell a slow smile was spreading across his face. He looked at her with almost a carnal gaze, "I know how we can find out."

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"Anything good on there?" JJ peered over her shoulder. She watched her type furiously, eyebrows furrowing.

"A lot of good, actually. Looks like Hassan was making regular payments into an offshore account in the Cayman Islands. And they weren't small either." Caroline replied. "I am trying to see if I can find the owner of the accounts, but it will take a while." She leaned back and stretched.

It had been several hours of fighting with firewalls. The others had decided to retire to a hotel across the street. JJ stayed behind to keep guard, since they didn't fully trust their friend quite yet. Caroline had been understanding, seeing as how they had almost been run off the road earlier in the day. Besides, the quiet was nice. It helped her focus.

She stood from the barstool and moved around the bar to grab a glass for water. After preparing a second one for JJ, she sat it in front of the girl, who looked oddly pale.

"You okay?" Caroline asked.

JJ's head jerked up, surprised. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired."

Caroline frowned at her, eyes searching for something in her face. She must have found what she was looking for, because she leaned back with a soft smile.

"How far along are you?"

The question was not what JJ was expecting. She leaned back, wide eyed, mouth open but no words coming out.

"How did you-"

"You've been looking like you have had to puke all day." Caroline shrugged. "I don't know why they call it 'morning sickness' if it hits at every single moment." Noticing JJ's still-surprised expression, she smirked and left the counter. She returned a moment later with a lollipop. "It helps."

"Thank you." JJ replied, taking it from her. "Look, can you keep this between us? They don't know."

"Of course." Caroline replied with a small smile. She returned her gaze back to her screen as it started beeping. "Huh."

"What?"

"Something interesting. The guy who murdered Abdul Hassan was never caught, so in the background, I was scanning security feeds. There was a block of time-two hours-where the footage was deleted."

"So someone covered their tracks?"

"Exactly, and we knew that, but-" her words faded as she began typing. "Whoever deleted that data did it without getting into the system directly, meaning they most likely patched themselves into the feed and then deleted it remotely. "

"Okay, so does that help us?" JJ asked.

"Hold on." Caroline began rummaging through the files on the drive. "Robert had a note in here. It had nothing but a time on it. Couldn't figure out what it was until now. Here it is-" She pulled it up and sure enough, a document appeared with nothing but a time code on it. "Let me see what this does." She found the timecode in the video, several months before Hassan's death.

"See anything?"

"Yeah.." Caroline froze, eyes wide. "That's Rajesh."

"You mean the-"

"Yeah. Give me a minute." Caroline was laser focused, typing like crazy. "I'm searching Rajesh's bank records, hold on." She paused. "I found it."

"Any deposits?"

"Yes, but not in his account. His father has one in Mumbai. The deposits match those that came out of Hassan's account and the dates that the money went out." She replied.

"I'll tell the others we may have a lead. If he has Penelope, where do you think he'd take her?" JJ pulled out her phone and dialed Hotch.

"One thing at a time." Caroline breathed.

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"You found something?" Hotch asked as they moved into the pub. They seemed to be in higher spirits than they were earlier.

"I think so." Caroline nodded, still focused on her laptop.

JJ filled them in on the first part.

"Now that we know that the money was going to Rajesh indirectly, I went back through the documents that Robert put on this flash drive, and I realized something interesting. Rajesh has only existed since about a year before he entered the United States."

"What's with all this disappearing identities crap?" Morgan seethed, placing his hands on his hips.

"I know, it's driving me nuts, but in this case, it helps us." Caroline sympathized. "I found a high school photo of a boy who looks like Rajesh down to a tee. Ran it through facial recognition just to be safe. His real name is Arjun, born in Mumbai. Looks like his entire family disappeared a year before they came to the States and entered with new identities."

"So how does he fit into all of this?" Emily asked.

"Arjun's father worked with Hassan before they left. They were partners." Caroline watched them process it individually. "He was forced to step down after they found out he was embezzling money. Most of it was recovered, except for a small portion. Just enough for an inheritance." She looked at JJ with a sigh.

"So, Arjun's father gets fired, they change their identities and move to the states and then, what? Arjun joins the task force because he thinks they are bringing down the man who accused his father? It's circumstantial, at best." Hotch replied with a frown.

Caroline leaned back, looking defeated. "I know. I've been searching for hours and I feel like I only dredged up more questions."

"Not necessarily. Think about it." Reid looked at Hotch, wishing their boss could read his mind. "It's a classic case of getting involved in the investigation."

"He's got a point, Hotch." Emily defended.

"Here's the other thing, the payments to Arjun started the day that our informant in Karachi was killed." Caroline finished. "I know it's not much, but I'm still sifting through data." She massaged the bridge of her nose.

"If he took Penelope," Caroline jerked up in surprise at Hotch's words, "why?"

"She was onto him." Reid replied. "Look so far, we have treated this as some super spy mission but it's so much simpler than that." His words were getting faster. "They believed there was an inside man and then there was the bombing. What were you looking into when they attacked?" He whipped around to look at Caroline.

"We hadn't gotten very deep when they pulled us out, just…employee records.." Her voice faded.

"Did he work for Hassan?" Rossi asked.

"I don't-Let me check." She typed for a moment and then looked up. "Yeah, he did. Low level janitor."

"Which means he had the access to get into the system and went completely unnoticed." Reid finished. He looked to Hotch, with an almost-pleading gaze.

"He could have deleted the security footage." JJ crossed her arms.

Hotch thought for a moment, brows furrowed. "Does Hassan have any property here in DC?"

"Let me look." She paused. "No, but he has a big ass boat currently parked in the Baltimore Harbor." She replied.

"Abandoned?" Hotch demanded.

"Yup." She replied standing up from her seat.

"Alright," He sighed heavily, "looks like we have him."

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A/N: I hope the cute little scene with JJ makes up for me not posting. I own nothing. Boomie out


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